MINING THE GROUND.
Miss Cherrie Nettleby was not a young lady of very deep feeling, or one
likely to be long overcome by romantic emotion of any sort. Therefore,
before a week stood between her and that rainy July night, she was all
her own self again, and that night seemed to have come and gone out of
her life, and left no trace behind it. She was Cherrie Nettleby still,
not Mrs. Captain Cavendish; she lived in the cottage instead of the
handsome suite of apartments the elegant young officer occupied in the
best hotel in Speckport. She flaunted in the old gay way through her
native town, and held her usual evening levee of young men in the
cottage-parlor as regularly as the evening came round. It did seem a
little strange to her at first that marriage, which makes such a change
in the lives of other girls, should make so little in hers. She never
doubted for a single second that she was really and legally his wife,
and Val Blake kept his own counsel. The captain told her that he would
resign his commission or exchange into the first homeward-bound
regiment; and meantime she was to be a good girl and keep their secret
inviolably. She was to encourage Charley Marsh, still--poor Charley!
while he every day played the devoted to Nathalie.
Cherrie's wedding night had been nearly the last of July. The crimson
glory of an August sunset lay on the climbing roses, the sweetbrier and
honeysuckle arches of the cottage, and was turning its windows into
sheets of red gold. The sun, a crimson globe, was dropping in an
oriflamme of indescribable gorgeousness behind the tree-tops; and at all
this tropical richness of light and coloring, Cherrie, leaning over her
father's garden-gate, looked.
There were not many passers-by to look at that hot August evening; but
presently up the dusty road came a young man, well-dressed and
well-looking. Cherrie knew him, and greeted him with a gracious smile,
for it was Mr. Johnston, Captain Cavendish's servant. Mr. Johnston, with
a look of unqualified admiration at her dark, bright face, took off his
hat.
"Good-evening, Miss Nettleby. Ain't it shocking 'ot? Been to the picnic
to-day?"
Cherrie nodded.
"'Ad a good time, I 'ope. Weren't you nearly melted with the 'eat?"
"Yes, it was warm," said Cherrie; "got anything for me?"
"A letter," said Mr. Johnston, producing the document, "which he'd 'ave
come himself honely hold Major Grove hinvited 'im to dinner."
Cherrie eagerly broke open the envelope and read:
"DEAREST:--Meet me to-night, at half-past eight, in the cedar dell,
without fail. Destroy this as soon as read.
"G. S."
Cherrie tore the note into atoms, and strewed them over the grass.
"There was to be a hanswer," insinuated Mr. Johnston.
"Tell him yes," said Cherrie; "that is all."
Mr. Johnston took off his hat once more, and himself immediately after.
Ann Nettleby, at the same moment, came to the door to tell Cherrie tea
was ready; and Cherrie went in and partook of that repast with her
father, sister, and brothers.
"Did you hear, boys," said old Nettleby, "that Lady Leroy has sold
Partridge Farm?"
"Sold Partridge Farm!" repeated Rob. "No! has she, though? Who to?"
"To young Mr. Oaks, so Midge tells me; and a rare penny she'll get for
it, I'll warrant you."
"What does Oaks want of it, I wonder?" said his other son. "He isn't
going to take to farming."
"Oaks is the richest fellow in Speckport," said Rob Nettleby; "he has
more money a great deal than he knows what to do with, and he may as
well lay it out in property as at the gaming-table."
"Does he gamble?" asked Cherrie, helping herself to bread and butter.
Her brother laughed significantly.
"Doesn't he, though? You may find him and that Captain Cavendish all
hours of the day and night in Prince Street."
"Is Captain Cavendish a gambler?" said Ann; "that's bad for Miss Natty.
They say they're going to be married."
Cherrie smiled to herself, and Rob went on speaking.
"It's bad for Miss Nathalie, for that Cavendish is a villain, for all
his fine airs and graces, and is leading her brother to the devil. I met
him and young McGregor coming from Prince Street last night, and they
hadn't a leg to put under them--either one."
"Drunk?" said Cherrie, stirring her tea.
"Drunk as lords, the pair of 'em. I helped them both home, and found out
afterward how it was. They had gone with Cavendish to the gaming-house
as usual, had lost heavily also, as usual, and, excited and maddened,
had drank brandy until they could hardly stand. Young McGregor will
fleece his father before he stops; and where Marsh's money comes from, I
can't tell."
"You ought to tell Miss Natty, Rob," said his father. "I should not like
to see her throw herself away on such a man, such a handsome and
pleasant-spoken young lady as she is."
"Not I," said his son, getting up; "she wouldn't thank me, and it's none
of my business. Let Charley tell her, if he likes--a poor fellow like me
has no call to interfere with fine ladies and gentlemen."
Cherrie, with a little disdainful toss of her black curls, but
discreetly holding her tongue, went into the front room and seated
herself with a novel at the window. She read until a quarter past eight,
and it grew too dark to see; then, rising, she wrapped herself in a
plaided shawl and crossed the deserted road unobserved. Cedar dell, the
place of tryst, was but a few yards off--the green hollow in the woods
where Cherrie had told the captain of the result of her eavesdropping; a
delightful place, shut in by the tall, dark trees, with a carpet of
velvet sward, and a rustic bench of twisted boughs. Cherrie sat down on
the bench and listened to the twittering of the birds in their nests,
the restless murmuring and swaying of the trees in the night-wind, and
watched the blue patches of sky and the pale rays of the new moon
glancing in and out of the black boughs. All the holy beauty of the pale
summer night could not lift her heart to the Creator who had made
it--she was only waiting for the fall of a well-known step, for the
sound of a well-known voice. Both came presently. The branches were
swept aside, a step crashed over the dry twigs, a pale and handsome
face, with dark eyes and mustache, under a broad-brimmed hat, looked in
the white moonlight through the opening, and the expected voice asked:
"Are you there, Cherrie?"
"Yes, George," said Cherrie composedly, "Come in."
Captain George Cavendish came in accordingly, embraced her in very
husbandly fashion, and sat down beside her on the bench. The gloom of
the place and the hat he wore obscured his face, but not so much but
that the girl could see how pale it was, and notice something strange in
his voice and manner.
"Is there anything the matter?" she asked. "Did you want anything very
particular, George?"
"Yes," he said, in a low, impressive voice, taking both her hands in
his, and holding them tightly. "I want you to do me the greatest service
it may ever be in your power to render me, Cherrie."
Cherrie looked up at his white, set face, feeling frightened.
"I will do whatever I can for you, George. What is it?"
"You know you are my wife, Cherrie, and that my interests are yours now.
Wouldn't you like I should become rich and take you away from this
place, and keep you like a lady all the rest of your life?"
Yes--Cherrie would decidedly like that, and gave him to understand
accordingly.
"Then you must take an oath, Cherrie--do you hear?--an oath to obey me
in all things, and never reveal to living mortal what I shall tell you
to-night."
Now, Cherrie, thinking very little of a falsehood on ordinary occasions,
held an oath to be something solemn and sacred, and not to be broken,
and hesitated a little.
"Perhaps it is something hard--something I can't do. I feel afraid to
take an oath, George."
"You must take it! It is not a matter of choice, and I will ask nothing
you can't do. You must only swear to keep a secret."
"Well, I'll try," said Cherrie, with a sigh, "but I hate to do it."
"I dare say you do!" he said, breaking into a slight smile; "it is not
in your line, I know, to keep secrets, Cherrie; but at present there is
no help for it. You know what an oath is, don't you, Cherrie?"
"Yes."
"And you swear never to reveal what I am about to say to you?"
"Yes," said Cherrie, her curiosity getting the better of her fear. "I
swear! What is it?"
Was it the gloom of the place, or some inward struggle, that darkened so
his handsome face. The silence lasted so long after her question, that
Cherrie's heart began to beat with a cold and nameless fear. He turned
to her at last, holding both her hands in his own, and so hard that she
could have cried out with the pain.
"You have sworn, Cherrie, to help me. Say you hope you may die if you
ever break that oath. Say it!"
The girl repeated the frightful words, with a shiver.
"Then, Cherrie, listen, and don't scream. I'm going to rob Lady Leroy
to-morrow night."
Cherrie did not scream; but she gave a gasping cry, and her eyes and
mouth opened to their widest extent.
"Going to rob Lady Leroy," repeated Captain Cavendish, looking at her
fixedly, and magnetizing her with his powerful glance, "to-morrow night;
and I want you to help me, Cherrie."
"But--but they'll put you in prison for it," gasped Cherrie, all aghast.
"No, they won't, with your help. I mean they shall put somebody else in
prison for it; not through any dislike to him, poor devil, but to avert
suspicion from myself. Will you help me, Cherrie? Remember, you have
sworn."
"I will do what I can," shivered poor Cherrie, "but oh! I am dreadfully
scared."
"There is no need--your part will be very easy, and to-morrow afternoon
you shall leave Speckport forever."
Cherrie's face turned radiant.
"With you, George! Oh, I am so glad! Tell me what you want me to do, and
see if I don't do it."
"That is my good little wife. Now then for explanations. Do you know
that Lady Leroy has sold Partridge Farm?"
"To Mr. Tom Oaks--yes, and that he is coming up to-morrow to pay her
eight thousand pounds for it."
"Who told you?"
"Father and the boys were talking about it at tea. George, is that the
money you're going to steal?"
"It is. I am deucedly hard-up just at present, Cherrie, and eight
thousand would be a godsend. Now, my dearest, you must be up at the
house when Oaks comes, and find out where the money is put."
"I know where she always keeps the money," said Cherrie; "and she's sure
to put this with the rest. It is in that black japanned tin box on the
stand at the head of her bed."
"Very well. You see, I must do it to-morrow night, for she never would
keep so large a sum in the house; it will go into the bank the day
after. The steamer for Halifax leaves to-morrow night at eleven o'clock,
and I shall go to Halifax in her."
"And take me with you?" eagerly asked Cherrie.
"No; you must go in another direction. Until our marriage is made
public, it never would do for us to go together, Cherrie. Let me see.
You told me once you had a cousin up in Greentown, who wanted you to
visit her, did not you?"
"Yes--Cousin Ellen."
"Well, there is a train leaving Speckport at half-past five in the
afternoon. You must depart by that, and you will be in Greentown before
nine. Take care to make your departure as public as possible. Go into
Speckport early in the morning, and bid everybody you know good-bye.
Tell them you don't know how long you may be tempted to stay."
"Yes," said Cherrie, with a submissive sigh.
"All but one. You must tell Charley Marsh a different story."
"Charley! Why, what's Charley Marsh got to do with it?"
"A good deal, since I mean he shall be arrested for the robbery. I hate
to do it, but there is no help for it, Cherrie. You told me the other
day that he was getting desperate, and wanted you to elope with him."
"So he did," said Cherrie. "He went on dreadfully; said he was going to
perdition, and you were dragging him down, but he would take me from you
if he could. He wanted me to go with him to the United States, and we
would be married in Boston."
"And you--what is this you told him, Cherrie?"
"I told him I would think about it, and give him his answer in a day or
two."
"Very well. Give him his answer to-morrow morning. Call at the office,
and tell him you consent to run away with him, but that, to avoid
suspicion for a few days, you are going to give out you are off on a
visit to your cousin in Greentown. That you will actually start in the
cars, but will step quietly out at the first station, which is only
three miles from town, and that you will walk back and get to Speckport
about dark. You understand, Cherrie? You are not really to do this, only
to tell Marsh you will."
"Yes," said Cherrie, looking hopelessly bewildered.
"Tell him to come to Redmon between eight and nine, to call at your
cottage first, and if you are not there, to go to Lady Leroy's and wait
there as long as he can. If you are not there before the house is
closed, he is to wait in the grounds for you in front of the house until
you do come. I will enter by that back window you showed me, Cherrie,
and the probability is Charley will wait all night, and, of course, will
be seen by several people, and actually suspected of the robbery."
"It seems a pity, though, don't it?" said Cherrie, her woman's heart
touched for poor Charley.
"If he is not suspected, I will be," said Captain Cavendish, sternly.
"Remember your oath."
"I remember. Is there anything else?"
"Yes; you must send him a note in the afternoon. Ann will fetch it for
you. To-morrow is Thursday, and at eight in the morning the steamer
leaves for Boston."
"Here," said the young man, putting his hand in his pocket and producing
a slip of paper, "is a draft of the note you are to send him, written in
pencil. Copy it word for word, and then tear this up. Listen, and I will
read it."
More from memory than the pale moon's rays glancing through the woods,
Captain Cavendish read:
"DEAR CHARLEY:--I forgot to tell you this morning, when I consented
to elope with you, that you had better go down to the steamboat
office to-day and secure staterooms, so that we may conceal
ourselves as soon as we go on board. You can pay for this out of
that money; it will do us more good than it ever would do that
miser of a Lady Leroy. Ever yours,
"CHERRIE NETTLEBY."
"What money?" inquired Cherrie. "What money is he to pay for the
staterooms out of?"
"Oh, I forgot. When you see him in the morning, give him this,"
producing a bank note. "I know he has not a stiver, and I got this from
Oaks myself yesterday. It is for ten pounds, and Oaks's initials were
scrawled on it, as he has a fashion of doing with all his bills. Tell
him Lady Leroy gave it to your father in payment, and he presented it to
you. Charley will take it; he is too hard up to be fastidious. Your note
will, no doubt, be found upon him, and convict him at once."
"There's another thing," said Cherrie. "When Charley's arrested and my
name found to that note, they'll think I knew about the robbery, and
come up to Greentown after me. What should I do then?"
"That is true," said the captain, thoughtfully. "Perhaps, after all,
then, you had better not go to your cousin's. Go on to Bridgeford; it is
thirty miles further up, and a quiet out-of-the-way place, where no one
ever stops, hardly. There is one hotel there, where you can stay quietly
for a few days, and then slip off and get board in some farmer's house.
Call yourself Miss Smith, and write to me when you are settled, telling
all the particulars. Disguise your hand in writing the address, and I
will run up and see you as soon as I safely can, and settle our future
plans. Now, you are sure you remember and understand all I have been
saying?"
"Yes," said Cherrie; "but, oh, dear me! I feel just as nervous and as
scared! What will they do to Charley? Maybe they'll hang him!"
"Not the least fear of it. If they put him in prison, I'll try and get
him clear off. You say they always go to bed for certain at nine o'clock
at Redmon house?"
"At nine to a minute; but Lady Leroy always locks her door, nights. How
will you get in?"
Captain Cavendish smiled.
"If it all was as easy as that, it would be a simple affair. Don't look
so discouraged, my darling black eyes. With eight thousand pounds in my
pocket, and the prettiest little girl in wide America as my wife, I will
be off to merry England, and you and I will forget this land of fog and
fish. I'm off now, Cherrie and perhaps it may be two or three weeks
before I shall see you again, so take care of yourself. Here are eight
sovereigns to pay your expenses; and be sure you write to me from
Bridgeford."
He got up, but Cherrie clung to him, crying:
"Oh, I am afraid! O George, I am afraid I will never see you again."
"Little simpleton," he said, giving her a parting caress, "what can
happen if you do your part bravely? If you fail, then, indeed, we will
never meet again."
Cherrie's tears were falling fast now.
"I will not fail; but--but----"
"But what, my darling?"
"When you go to Halifax, perhaps you will never come back; perhaps you
will never come to Bridgeford."
"Cherrie, you are a goose! Don't you know I am in your power, and that I
must come back? Come, stop crying now, and give me a kiss, and say
good-bye. It won't be long, you know."
One other parting caress, and then he was gone.
Cherrie listened until the echo of his footsteps died out in the
distance, and then she threw herself on her face in the wet grass,
heedless of her white dress, and cried like a spoiled child whose doll
has been taken away. She was frightened, she was excited, she was
grieved, but she was not remorseful. There was little compunction in her
heart for the part she was to play--betraying the man who loved her and
trusted her. It was the old story of Delilah and Samson over again.
The clocks of Speckport striking ten, and clearly heard this still
summer night, had ceased before she came out, her cheeks pale, her eyes
red with weeping. There was a dull circle round the moon, foreboding a
coming storm; but what was there to give warning to poor Charley Marsh
of the storm about to burst upon him?
Ann Nettleby was at the door waiting patiently for Cherrie. She turned
crossly upon her when she appeared.
"I wish you would learn to come home earlier, and not keep folks out of
their beds all night. What were you doing in the woods?"
"Crying," said Cherrie, quite as crossly as her sister. "I'm tired to
death of this dull place. I'll go off to Greentown to-morrow."
"I wish to mercy you would; the rest of us would have some peace then.
Did you expect Charley Marsh to-night?"
"No; why?"
"He's been here, then, and only just gone. Come in, and let me lock the
door."
Cherrie went up to her room, but not to sleep. She sat by the window,
looking out on the quiet road, the black woods, and the moon's sickly,
watery glimmer, while the long hours dragged slowly on, and her sister
slept. She was thinking of the eventful to-morrow--the to-morrow that
was to be the beginning of a new life to her.